The Third Option
by spiderclone51
Summary: Oneshot: While Chloe only saw two ways that this could end, I saw a third option... one that I know Chloe definitely wouldn't approve of. Too bad, it isn't her choice... My own idea of how the game should have ended.


"This is my storm. I caused this... I caused all of this. I changed fate and destiny so much that... I actually did alter the course of everything. And all I really created was death and destruction."

As soon as I say the words I realize that I'm not admitting this to Chloe, but to myself. This whole week I have been feeling that my powers were the cause of everything that was happening, but I refused to admit it. But now, seeing my actions come back, I realize there is no denying it: this is all my fault.

"Fuck all of that, okay? You were given a power. You didn't ask for it... and you saved me. Which had to happen, all of this did... except for what happened to Rachel. But without your power, we wouldn't have found her! Okay, so you're not the goddamn Time Master, but you're Maxine Caulfield... and you're amazing."

I know that Chloe is trying to make me feel better, but I can barely stand to look at her. I feel as if her words are only that: words. I care for her so goddamn much and yet because of me we are now standing on a cliff watching Arcadia Bay, the town where both of us spent most of our lives, about to be destroyed.

"Max, this is the only way."

I turn to see Chloe holding out the photo of the blue butterfly, taken the day all this shit started. The day...Chloe came back into my life. As I stare at the photo, I begin to process what she is trying to tell me.

"You can use this photo to change everything right back to when you took that picture... All it would take is for me to... to..." Chloe begins to break down, and I feel my heart break at the sight of it.

"Fuck that!" I shout, trying to be heard over the storm, feeling anger at myself for what was happening and anger at her for even suggesting such a thing. "No... no way! You are my number one priority now. You are all that matters to me."

"I know," Chloe says, staring out into the storm. "You have proved that over and over again... even though I don't deserve it. I'm so selfish... not like my mom... Look what she had to give up and live through... and she did. She deserves so much more than to be killed by a storm in a fucking diner. Even my step... father deserves to have her alive. There are so many more people in Arcadia Bay who should live... way more than me..."

I can feel myself breaking at her words, each more painful than the last. "Don't say that... I won't trade you."

"You're not trading me. Maybe you've just been delaying my real destiny..."

"Fuck destiny, Chloe! I won't lose you... not again." No matter what, no matter what had to happen, I am not going to lose Chloe Price again... I can't do that. "Even if I go back and let you... what then? What about me?! I can't live without you!"

Chloe grabs me by the arms, forcing me to face her, and stares into my eyes. "And I can't live with the thought of everyone dying because I was so fucking selfish! To use your powers to keep me alive, at the expense of everyone else that we have cared about..."

Gazing back into her beautiful blue eyes I can tell that she is serious. If I choose to keep her alive, to keep her with me, I'm not sure she could survive the guilt that would come with it. But if I choose to let her go, I'm not sure I could live without her beside me.

"Chloe... I can't make this choice..." I plead, begging to be released from this responsibility.

"No, Max... you're the only one who can..."

I stare at her knowing that she is right, and yet so desperately wishing that she was wrong. I turn away and watch the storm, trying to figure out what to do, when an idea hits me. I look back at Chloe, who is looking at me with a mixture of anticipation, fear, and... expectation, and I know what my choice is.

"Chloe... I'm so, so sorry... please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you, Max. You're my hero."

We embrace in a hug and I let the tears stream down my face, knowing that this is probably the last time I will see her. There are so many things I want to say. I want to let her know how much I care about her, but I know that it would just make this so much more difficult for both of us.

"Oh, Chloe... I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I'll always love you..."

I feel my heart break entirely, and I hope that whatever remains of Chloe will forgive me for what I am about to do. We break apart and I walk a few paces away, unable to look her in the face, choosing instead to focus on the photo.

"Don't you forget about me..." I whisper, as I feel the pull of time take me back to the past, back to the bathroom where it all began, for the last time.

…

…

…

I come back just as I finish taking the photo. I let it slowly drift to the floor as the butterfly takes flight and heads out the window. Slowly taking a breath, I wait patiently until I hear the door open, and the sounds of someone entering the bathroom carry to me.

"It's cool, Nathan... Don't stress, you're okay, bro, just... count to three. Don't be scared... You own this school... If I wanted, I could blow it up... You're the boss..."

"If you're the boss, then why do whatever your daddy tells you to do?" I ask smugly as I step around the corner, causing Nathan to flinch, surprised that there was someone else in the bathroom.

"What did you say, bitch?!" He asks, trying to make himself look menacing, but I just laugh, trying to cover how nervous I am.

"I think you heard me." He starts moving toward me, anger and insanity in his eyes, and I feel my heartbeat speed up, but I keep up the charade of not caring. "Oh, what are you going to do? Drug me like you did to Kate?"

That makes him pause for a moment before grabbing me and slamming me against the wall opposite the door. It hurts like hell, but I manage to keep the pain off my face... I hope.

"How the fuck do you know about that?" He is so close now, I can see the beads of sweat trickling down his face.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is how much you are willing to pay to keep me from talking." I know I am channeling Chloe, but it is one of the only ways to make sure he gets pissed at me.

"What makes you think I will pay?"

"Because you got hella cash, and if you don't, well... I might just have to go let the security officer know about the drugs you have, and watch you get dragged off. How would your family feel about that?"

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!" He shouts in my face as he pulls out the gun that he had once used to kill an alternate Chloe and points it at my chest. I don't have to pretend to be afraid now.

"Nathan, why don't you put that down, and we can talk-"

"Don't EVER tell me what to do! I'm so SICK of people trying to control me!"

For some reason, I feel as if I know what is going to happen... not because I have seen it play out before, but because of the tension in the air. With my heart feeling as if it is going to burst right out of my chest and my breath coming in ragged gasps, I use all of my strength to push Nathan back, hear the gunshot go off, and feel pain... so much goddamn pain. Falling to my knees, I gaze past Nathan to lock eyes with Chloe, who has just entered the bathroom with a look of shock. Giving her one last little smile, I let myself fall into darkness...

...only to open my eyes, and see the inside of the Two Whales Diner.

I look around, panicking that I had accidentally somehow thrown myself through time again in an effort to protect myself, but after realizing that there is no one around I calm down and begin to wonder where I actually am. The windows appear to be scenes from my life, except some of them are happening differently than I remember.

I see a me standing in Seattle, my arms warpped around Chloe. Another version of me, wearing a different color of the same shirt I am wearing, has just shot Frank and is trying to hide the weapon. I see a punk version of me, what looks like a secret agent version… there were so many that I didn't know where to look.

As I start moving toward the booth that Chloe and I shared many times, I hear someone clapping slowly. Focusing on the noise, I notice someone sitting at the booth and realize it was the alternate Max, the one from my stupid nightmare, sitting there with that stupid smirk on her face.

"Oh fuck, not you again! Why won't you leave me alone?!" I shout, marching over and glaring at her.

"Aw, you're not happy to see me?" Max asks, pretending to be sad for a moment before her smirk returns. "I'm touched."

"Is this hell for me? Is that what I've come to: being stuck with you for all eternity?"

"Nope. In fact, this is possibly the last time you are going to see me." With that, Max gestures to the empty seat across from her and I begrudgingly take it, curious about what she means.

"Where are we going?"

"Now it makes sense why you had to rewind time several times, just to rehear conversations. I only said I was leaving, but I'm not leaving right away. First, I have to fill you in on some things, so you might as well get comfortable." And with that, almost as if a switch was flipped, she changes- the smirk is gone, replaced by the serious look of someone who has seen way too much. Her clothes are the same, but it is almost as if she has been replaced by a different version of me.

"I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier, but it was the only way to see what choice you were going to make. I would also like to apologize for lying to you about being one of the Max's that you left behind; rather, you are one of the ones I left behind."

"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?"

Max sighs before gazing intently at the closest window and the scene playing on it. I follow her gaze and see it is a version of me cuddling with Chloe in her room. "There are thousands of alternate realities out there, each caused by the single change of one event. Each time we went back in time, we left behind a version of ourselves that did not, creating another alternate reality. Now imagine doing this dozens, maybe even hundreds of times. You would end up having many alternate versions of you running around, each having made different decisions."

I stare at her, still trying to process her words. "So I am just a version of you that you happened to leave behind?"

Max glanced at me before going back to the window. "Well, it could have been me, or another version of me, but essentially... yes. You are me and I am you, except for a few different choices we made."

"Wait, what did you mean earlier, by seeing what choice I was going to make?"

"When on the cliff, you were faced with a choice: to either let Chloe die and save Arcadia Bay, forcing you to live with the memories of what happened, or allow the storm that you created to destroy the town, killing all of your friends and family except for Chloe. Most of the alternate versions of us choose one of the two options, but a small few, a very small few, choose a third option, sacrificing ourselves to save Chloe and the town."

"So what happened to the town... and Chloe? From our realities?" I asked, hoping to hear that I had made the right choice.

Max flinched before turning towards me, a sad look on her face. "Do you really want to know?"

I could feel my hope slipping away, but I nodded anyway.

"Due to our deaths, our realities ceased to exist. The fluctuations from time and space ripped our realities apart, killing everyone and everything that ever existed. We are the only people who would ever even remember our realities at all."

With each word, I felt my heart shatter a little more, until I broke down, sobbing into the seat. I had done all of that work sacrificing myself, only to end up killing everyone... including Chloe. She was gone from my life forever and I could never do anything to change that.

I don't know how long I cried for, but eventually I brought myself back under control. I looked up to see that the other Max was still sitting with an expression on her face that told me she had suffered just as much as I was.

"So..." I start, sniffling a little as I wipe away some stray tears, "What now? What am I supposed to do now?"

"You do what the rest of us have been doing: help alternate versions of ourselves gain the ability to time travel." I look at her like she is crazy, but she just gives me a small smile before standing up and walking toward the door.

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" I ask as I quickly get up to follow her.

Max turns and stares at me, almost as if she is staring down into the depths of my soul.

"We are the Doe: we are there at the beginning and we are there all the way to the finish, helping other versions of ourselves try to figure out what to do with their abilities and what choice they will make in the end. We are outside of the space-time continuum, so we can be everywhere or nowhere. This is a difficult job that we had no say in getting, but I will give you the option now. If you choose, you can remain here, being forced to watch other realities from afar, or you can step out the door and help other Max's discover their true selves. The choice is yours." And with that, she steps out the door and vanishes into darkness.

I stand there wondering what to do, a thousand questions going through my mind with significantly less answers. I know that I won't get the answers I need by standing there, and yet, doing things without all the information led me to where I am I feel so many confusing emotions, thoughts, and ideas...

"Fuck it."


End file.
